Bruins' Patrice Bergeron taken to hospital

Sunday

Jun 23, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Patrice Bergeron left the arena in an ambulance. The Bruins headed home on the brink of elimination. Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals didn't go according to plan for Boston, with Patrick Kane scoring two goals to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-1 victory and 3-2 series lead on Saturday night.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Patrice Bergeron left the arena in an ambulance. The Bruins headed home on the brink of elimination.

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals didn't go according to plan for Boston, with Patrick Kane scoring two goals to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-1 victory and 3-2 series lead on Saturday night.

The Bruins must win at home on Monday night to force a seventh game and keep their hopes alive for a second championship in three years.

It would help if they had Bergeron. But their top forward's status is in question after he was taken to a hospital in an ambulance with an undisclosed injury.

That happened after he skated gingerly off the ice after playing just two shifts in the second period. Coach Claude Julien would not reveal any details, telling NBC during a break in play, “Let's just say right now we're going to give him some time.”

That's something they don't have much of at the moment.

What they do have is a history of fighting back when they're on the verge of being knocked out.

They did it in 2011, when they opened the playoffs with back-to-back losses to Montreal. They won that series in seven games, and in the Stanley Cup finals that year, they trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before rallying to beat Vancouver for their sixth title.

This year, they nearly got knocked off in the first round after jumping out to a 3-1 lead against Toronto. They dropped the next two games and were down three in Game 7 before rallying to win that series, and their resolve is being tested again by the Blackhawks.

“You're not going to push us away that easily,” Julien said. “We're a committed group and we plan on bouncing back.”

The problem is the Bruins are facing a team that dominated like no other this season, getting off to a record start on the way to finishing with the most points in the NHL.

The Bruins got a solid performance in goal from Tuukka Rask, who had 29 saves coming off a 6-5 overtime loss, but Chicago dictated the tempo, particularly in the second period.

Other than Zdeno Chara's goal in the third, the Bruins couldn't break through against Corey Crawford.